RESEARCH METHODS

What are the two different types of hypothesis?

Directional and non-directional

What is a directional hypothesis?

It predicts in which direction the results are likely to go. E.g girls are more intelligent than boys.

What is a non-directional hypothesis?

Researchers expect that the IV will affect the DV, although they are not sure how. E.g Gender affects intelligent

What are the three main types of experiments?

Laboratory experiments, field experiments and natural (quasi) experiments.

Define laboratory experiment and state some advantages and disadvantages.

Artificial environment with tight controls over variables.

Advantages =

Tighter control of variables

Easy to replicate

Enable use of complex equipment

Less time consuming

Disadvantages =

Demand characteristics

Artificial environment

Experimenter effects

Low ecological validity

Define field experiment and state some advantages and disadvantages.

Takes place anywhere in a natural setting e.g the street, school.

Advantages =

Higher realism

Easier to generalise

Disadvantages =

Can’t control all of the variables

Time consuming

Define Natural experiment and state some advantages and disadvantages.

Natural changes where there is no independent variable.

Advantages =

Less chance of demand characteristics or bias

Disadvantages =

IV is not controlled by experimenter

No control over the allocation of participants to groups

Reliability refers to …

how consistent a study or measuring device is.

Concurrent validity is …

only applied to new research that is copied and researched

Validity refers to …

whether a study measures or examines what it claims to measure or examine.

Internal validity is …

when the change in IV is causing the change in the DV.

(Application) External Validity is …

when the results can be generalised beyond the experimental setting.

Population validity is …

when your results can be generalised to a wider population.

Ecological validity is …

when your results can be generalised to other places and envioments.

Temporal validity is …

only applied to old research. It means are the results still reliable in current times.

What are demand characteristics?

Sometimes the participants might e given cues and change the way they behave in order to meet the demands of the study.

The main ethical issues involved with research are …

Full debriefing

No risk

Anonymity

Coercion

Verbal deception

Informed consent

Written deception

Why are piolet studies good?

Because they check that everything in your actual experiment will run smoothly.

What are the five sampling techniques?

Opportunity sampling, volunteer sampling, random sampling, systematic sampling and stratified sampling.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of opportunity sampling?

Pick easy access groups

Takes less time

Could allow for investigator biased

What are the advantages and disadvantages of volunteer sampling?

Avoids investigator biased

You might only get extroverted people volunteering

What are the advantages and disadvantages of random sampling?

Everyone has a chance to be selected

Avoids investigator biased

Some people might not want to be selected

What are the advantages and disadvantages of systematic sampling?

Using a mathematical selection

Every nth person

Person might not want to be selected

What are the advantages of stratified sampling?

Making your sample representative of the population then dividing into smaller groups.

What are the three types of research designs?

Repeated measures design, matched pairs design and independent groups design.

Define repeated measures design

Everybody is going to do both conditions

Define matched pairs designs

Independent groups but the participants that are similar are matched up

Define independent groups design

One group pf people do the first condition and a second group does the second condition